The federal government has announced a range of measures aimed at making home insurance, particularly in flood prone areas, more affordable.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced $100 million in funding for flood mitigation measures such as raising the height of Waragamba Dam in Sydney.
She's also announced $42 million for flood betterment in proceedures in Queensland and 40 million dollars to primary producers to improve flood prevention measure.
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Julia Gillard says the funding is designed to implement measures to make insurance premiums drop
"What we want to ensure is that we not only help people to recover from flood but we help them be protected for the future. We don't just want to be on a cycle where people are flooded, get some assistance and then they're flooded again . We want to help people recover but we also want to better better protect them for the future."
NSW Greens MP John Kaye says raising the level of Sydney's Warragamba Dam would be an expensive and unwise bandaid solution.
"No dam can ever be made 100 per cent flood-proof," he said in a statement on Thursday.
"Any assessment of flood mitigation measures should consider the option of releasing some of the water content when the dam rises above 90 per cent, to reduce the risk of overflow and improve the health of the river."
The NSW opposition has backed the federal government's plan.
"If it's going to decrease the cost of their insurance premiums, where it is costing up to eight thousand dollars a year, then I think families will welcome it," Labor's water spokesman Walt Secord told ABC radio.
The NSW government is yet to comment.
